The Keepers
by dreamwalker41
Summary: After becoming a Guardian, Jack Frost starts to learn that there's more to the job than he thought. The Man in the Moon decides to let Jack have the three things that are exclusive to Guardians alone. Jack will have to be patient as he looks for the right path for him. However, when Jack meets the Keepers, his life is turned on its head.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I'm telling you people, I have to write what I feel like, otherwise I'll have a meltdown. So here's another story. :) I've actually been working on this story since I saw it last month the day after it came out. But I just got around to writing it. Just in time for Christmas! More over Christmas break, blah, blah, blah. Enjoy.**

I follow close to North's heels as he guides me around his hectic workshop. I really want to stop and look around a little, but the old man won't let me. Says that what we have something important to discuss today. I have to admit that I am more curious about my first Guardian meeting than the workshop, at the moment.

It's been close to a month since I've been sworn in as one of the Guardians- the Big Four (now the Big Five, if you will)—as the Guardian of Fun. It doesn't sound very, I don't know, "official" and all, not like the Guardian of Wonder does, but I like it every bit as much because it's _my _title… that and it sounds like the most entertaining.

I turn where North turns, following his every footstep as he guides me around corners and avoiding flying airplanes and clumsy Yetis. I wonder where he got those Yetis… I want one.

North stops at a door that I would have missed if he hadn't have led me here. He shows me the passcode to get in, a number of different knocks in different places on the wooden door. He opens the door only wide enough for him to go through, which is pretty wide if I'm being honest, so I slide in right behind him.

Around a large wooden table sit Toothiana, Bunnymund, and Sanderson, already bickering back and forth with Sandy's intelligible sand sculptures silently forming above his head. They stop immediately when they see North and me, Toothiana quickly flying up to give me a hug, Bunny sitting in his seat mumbling to himself, Sandy smiling silently in my direction.

North sits me down by him at the head of the table, and he folds his hands in front of him and begins to talk in his heavy Russian accent, "Jack, I'd like to welcome you to your first Guardian meeting. But this meeting is only about you, and nothing else."

I nod my head, not knowing what to say or expect, for once. Tooth looks at me reassuringly and I stare up at North. "Alright! What do I have to do?"

North belts out his jolly old laugh and says, "No, boy. You have to do nothing but learn." North shifts a bit in his seat and continues, "We have communicated, as your elders, to Man in Moon. It seems he wishes to give you the three things that are set apart for Guardians alone. The first is your dominion."

I interrupt, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. My dominion? Like the Warren? Like your workshop? I get one?"

"When the Man decides to give you one, then yes, absolutely. But until then, you will have to wait. He will show you the place when it is your time. The next is Assistants, if you choose to have them." I give North a quizzical look. "I mean small helpers, like my elves and Yetis, or like Tooth's mini fairies."

I nod. "And finally, you have been given the task of choosing something. Something that only Guardians know about. Their correspondence, not their existence, has been kept from the rest of the population of both the supernatural and earthly worlds." North stands. "Follow me."

Confusion clearly displaced on my face, I look around at the other Guardians. They smile at me, standing (or floating), as well, like they all know something I don't. And they do. Which bothers me.

"What?" I ask, now standing from my chair, too. I'm a little glad we get to leave this room. That chair was _way _too warm—just how North likes it.

The other Guardians don't say anything. I hurry on behind them, rushing my way up to the front to meet North's wide strides. He leads me down and up like a billion flights of stairs. I hear Tooth giggling behind me. Is she really this excited about the secret? This had better be goo—

North shows me a set of wide oak doors twice the size of himself, accented with gold swirls and a silver sheen. He turns his head towards me with a smile and an eyebrow raised as he puts his gigantic hands onto the door handles.

In one throw, he opens the doors up wide, sending a cold breeze over all of us. I must look like an idiot standing there with my mouth agape.

This room is filled with red and gold furniture (especially a gargantuan "u" shaped couch that takes up half the room), a humongous window wall, and countless books on oak bookcases. But that's not all there is.

Sitting on the couch, there are several young people. I look over the face of a tall, skinny, dirty-blonde headed boy who has a look of urgency on his face. Music is drifting through the air from a guitar held by a boy who's wearing nothing but board shorts. I wonder how he can see the strings through his ratted bleach blonde hair. I look in my peripherals to see if North is angry about this boy putting his feet on this really nice couch. Next to the beach boy sits an extremely pale brown headed boy with the darkest eyes I've ever seen. He smiles and waves at me. And finally, turning around from the window to face us for the first time is a striking girl with fierce, wide green eyes and lengthy light brown hair. And she's barefoot. In the middle of winter. Which is only normal for, well… me.

North warmly clamps his hand on my bony shoulder. "Jack Frost, I would like to introduce you to the Keepers."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Okie doke! I got great feedback on this story, and I quickly wrote another chapter, but I've been keeping it captive for a few days so that I can get other writing done. :) Enjoy! (By the way, if you enjoy music with reading, I wrote this to "Forte" by Mutemath)**

About a million questions pop into my head at once. What is a Keeper? What do they have to do with me? Who are these people? What is this room?

North chuckles at the look on my face. "Come on, boy. You need to meet them." He grabs me by the arm and leads me into the crook of the "u" shaped couch. By now, the girl has taken a seat on the couch, where she now watches me closely, just like the other three. North leads me to the long, anxious boy first.

"Do you have any idea who this is?" asks North. I study the young man for a second. He is dressed in nice clothes, which are well-suited for his lanky frame. Though his face is young and tanned, I can see clearly the dark circles under his eyes. His eyes dart all around me instead of focusing on one point of me. His pointed features make him look fragile. Suddenly, his light brown eyes look down at a pocket watch he pulled out of his tan vest pocket. The idea finally clicks in my head.

"He's Father Time," I say, looking up at North. North nods at me, smiling.

"Actually, I prefer the name Timothy, if you don't mind," says the boy quietly. He smiles a little, snapping the pocket watch closed and returning it to his pocket.

I put out my hand. "Hi, my name is—"

"Jack Frost, I know. You are perpetually at the age of seventeen. You were born on December 15, 1694. You control the cold elements. I know this because some of your worst blizzards were in 1968, 1888, 1993, 1913, 1978, 1940, 1975, 1779, 1650—"

"I get it. Nice to meet you, too," I say, sarcasm barely lacing my voice as I roll my eyes and follow North to the surfer kid.

The kid looks up from his guitar. "Hey, man. Nice to meet you. I'm—"

"Shh. I want Jack to guess. Jack? Thoughts?" North says, smiling as he put his hands on his ample hips.

I have no idea with this one. The kid sits there with a wide white grin on his face as he continues strumming his colorful guitar. His pink board shorts ride up on him, as he's practically lying down. I can't see his eyes at all through his thick curly blonde hair.

"I don't know, North," I admit.

The kid laughs. "You'd be surprised how often I get that."

North shakes his head, laughing a little. "Jack, this is Eros." I stare into North's eyes, telling him that I had no clue who that was.

He laughs harder. "Cupid."

"Oh," I breathe.

"Nice to meet you, man," says Eros with a strong Californian surfer accent. He lays his head down on the couch and North grunts.

"Guess we caught him in one of his meditation moments. Let's move on."

The next kid stands up and walks over to me, towering over me, sticking out his hand to me and smiling down at me with one of the whitest smiles ever. "Hi, Jack."

Staring into his deep dark eyes, I think I know immediately who he is, but I can't be sure. I mean, he looks nothing like he normally does in folklore and such. I mean, he's completely human, with pale skin, a pointy nose, and wispy dark brown hair. To top it all off, he's wearing a red plaid button down with dark wash jeans and cowboy boots. But who else could he be?

I take his hand. "Hello, Frosty."

Frosty smiles even bigger. "What gave me away?"

I sing a little, "_Two eyes made out of coal_…"

He nods. "Gotcha. By the way, I only go by Frosty for the kids. Manny's my real name. It's awesome to meet you. It's nice seeing a new face. You wouldn't believe how sick you can get of people after you hang out with the same three for a few hundred years." He turns his smiling glance over to the three who are still sitting on the couch.

Eros chuckles a little and says, "Yeah." I wonder if he even heard what Manny said.

Timothy kind of narrows his eyes with a shy smile and says, "Oh, what's a hundred years to us, Manny?"

The girl to Manny's right laughs genuinely. "Honestly. I thought you _liked_ spending time with us, Manny."

Another grin spreads across North's face. "Ah, and here she is. See if you can't guess her name. You've already heard 'the laugh as light as the sun' and seen 'the smile as wide as canyons.'" North nudges me in the side. I must've been staring a little, because I can't help but think that North is right. She is extremely breathtaking.

I knew who she was before I even had walked into the room. "A pleasure, Mother Nature."

"The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Frost. However, I must correct you: I'm not a mother," she smiles widely. "At least not yet, anyway. Maybe someday. But for now, Nature's fine."

North claps his hands together. "Okay, now that you've met the Keepers, we have other things to discuss." He leads me away by placing his gigantic warm hand on my back, making me wince a little because of the heat. "Sorry," he mutters, letting me follow him over to the window.

"What do you think?" North asks in a hushed tone, looking over his shoulder at the teenagers on the couch.

"I'm not sure what to think. They all seem great. I just don't know what they have to do with me."

"Jack, the Keepers are appointed into their top secret position by none other than the Man in the Moon himself. Their job is similar to a vice president. While you're away or busy, or whenever you need them, they will be there to help you, to help you keep your belief in the lives of children. Although many Keepers can be used in a 'secretary' kind of role, the main job of the Keepers is to convince the children of the world to still believe in you. They are your Task Force, if you will. Because of this, you must choose wisely. However, there is a catch to the Keepers."

I look up at North, as his tone grew suddenly serious. "None of the Keepers have ever been used or chosen. Their main goal of being a Keeper, if they are ever chosen, is to show the Man in the Moon that they are ready to be a Guardian. When choosing your Keeper, keep in mind that you want someone who is trustworthy and hard-working, not just one who will use their status only to become a Guardian. They all want this position very badly, no matter how well they hide it." North then grabs me on the shoulders roughly. "Jack, it may be difficult, but you may only choose one Keeper."


End file.
